1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to wireless communications and more particularly to the battery management of modular wireless headset components that support voice communications.
2. Background of the Invention
Battery powered wireless communications offer users the ability to be “wired” from almost anywhere in the world. Cellular telephones, satellite telephones, wireless local area networks, personal digital assistants (PDAs) with radio frequency (RF) interfaces, laptop computers with RF interfaces and other such battery powered devices enable these wireless communications. Such wireless communications have been extended to personal wireless networks, such as these defined by the Bluetooth specification. Not only have cellular telephones become very popular, but Wireless Local Area Networking (WLAN) devices have also proliferated. One standard for wireless networking, which has been widely accepted, is the Specification of the Bluetooth System, v. 1.0 (“Bluetooth Specification”).
The Bluetooth Specification enables the creation of small personal area networks (PAN's) where the typical operating range of a device is 100 meters or less. In a Bluetooth system, Bluetooth devices sharing a common channel sequence form a piconet. Two or more piconets co-located in the same area, with or without inter-piconet communications, is known as a scatternet.
The Bluetooth Specification supports voice communications between Bluetooth enabled devices. When a pair of Bluetooth devices supports voice communication, the voice communications must be wirelessly supported in a continuous fashion so that carried voice signals are of an acceptable quality. One popular use of personal wireless networks couples battery powered wireless headset(s) with cellular telephone(s), personal computer(s), and laptop(s), etc. These standalone devices each typically require batteries to operate. Because these standalone devices each consume power differently, coordinating power consumption would be desirable.
In most cases, the device is simply a replacement for a wired headset. Such Bluetooth devices, while providing benefits in mobility of the user, provides little additional benefit over wired devices. In fact, portability and wearability are often negatively impacted by internal power consumption and battery capacity. Thus, there is a need for portability and wearability of headset devices that support audio or multimedia communications and also provide improved service quality through extended battery life.